Long-distance love Chelsea Dorsey, MD’10, and Martin “Andy” Anderson, MD’10

MARRIED SINCE | 2014, in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Pre-Pritzker encounter: Dorsey and Anderson first met while interviewing at Pritzker in winter 2005, but didn’t become a couple until fourth year. “We started dating at the worst possible time finished with interviews and about to match for residency,” Anderson said.

Six years of long distance: They started dating during residency interviews. Even though they felt strongly about each other, couples matching would have been difficult given their competitive specialties. Instead, they vowed to maintain a long-distance relationship during their surgical residencies hers at Stanford University and his at Saint Louis University. The long-distance relationship continued even after their wedding. After residency, Dorsey started her practice at Alexian Brothers in suburban Chicago, while Anderson went to Pittsburgh for a one-year pediatric otolaryngology fellowship. They finally moved in together in 2016, six years after they started dating and 1 ½ years after they wed.

The daily call: The secret to maintaining their long-distance relationship was communication. They made it a priority to talk on the phone every day, even if it was just to say “I love you” or “Good night.” In six years, they only missed one day, and that’s because Dorsey was in the operating room until 2 a.m. “This actually helped us in the long term.

Now that we’re married, those communication skills established during residency help us out on a dayto-day basis,” Dorsey said.

A week of bad gifts: During their fourth year of residency, they rented a cabin in the woods in Mendocino, California, the week after Christmas. Dorsey thought an engagement could be possible. Every day, Anderson gave her an intentionally bad or boring present an ugly scarf, a chocolate bar. He’d make up some sappy story about how it reminded him of her or a special time they spent together. She politely thanked him but was disappointed. “After those gifts, I had transitioned into a mode of depression, thinking, ‘An engagement’s not happening on this trip, I guess,’” she said. Then on New Year’s Eve, the gift was her engagement ring.

Hey, there’s a ring in my cereal: In St. Louis, Anderson’s house had previously been burglarized. So, when he brought home the engagement ring he custom-designed with a local jeweler making sure its profile would allow her to easily put on and remove gloves at work he hid it in a cereal box in his kitchen for months in case there was another burglary.

Where they work now: A vascular surgeon, Dorsey is Director of UChicago Medicine’s Vein Clinic, Associate Dean for Medical Student Academic Advising and Advancement for the Pritzker School of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Surgery. Anderson is a pediatric otolaryngologist at Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists of Illinois.